This invention pertains to timing devices and, in particular, to a self contained flight duration measurement and recording apparatus for use with thrown objects in order to provide a measurement of the elapsed flight time of the object either as a stand alone unit or as an added on or built in unit in a ball, or other thrown object.
The duration of the flight time of a thrown object can be of interest to the participant for training purposes and for competition either against one's personal best or against the performance of others. Currently, measuring approximate flight time can be accomplished by manually starting a stop watch when one initiates the throw and then stopping the watch when the object makes first contact with the ground or some other object. This requires a great deal of precision by the individual operating the stopwatch or requires the individual throwing the object to perform a number of steps at the same time. Both judgment and reaction time can effect the accuracy of the readings.
There have been a number of attempts to measure reaction time and the like. Examples or these devices include the U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,557 issued to Bigelow et al. on Aug. 13, 1985 for a Reaction Time and Applied Force Feedback which shows an extremely complicated unit and the U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,326 issued to Fekete et al. on Jun. 11, 1996 for a Speed Indicating Ball. These devices (do provide some sort of measurement in one way or another, but they do not provide the user the specific elapsed flight time reading in a simple and direct manner.
What is needed is a self contained flight duration measurement and recording apparatus that can be attached to or be built into a thrown object and the can sense inertial changes associated with launching and landing of a thrown object to start and stop a timing mechanism in order to measure and display the elapsed flight time.
It is the object of this invention to teach a self contained flight duration measurement and recording apparatus which avoids the disadvantages and limitations, recited above in previous measurement devices. Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus that is cost effective, can be provided integrally in the thrown object that can be easy to install and use and, at the same time, be safe, accurate and effective.